Take Offence Now! Everyone's Doing It!

With the christian professional victims taking offence to the Golden Compass you may be feeling left out. what is there for us to be offended about? Well, If you are Atheist, Apart from the obvious, Not a lot. well, certainly nothing that will receive media coverage.

But if you are religious and feel left out there are a list of movies [*] that you can, And should, Be offended by. So what are you waiting for? take offence now and start stamping your feet!

'The Da Vinci Code' (2006)

Who was offended? Catholics
What was their beef? The Vatican, along with several Catholic groups around the world, objected strongly to the assertions made in the book and movie about the motivations of the Catholic Church in allegedly covering up a relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

'The Passion of the Christ' (2004)

Who was offended? Jews
What was their beef? Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" was one of the biggest hits of 2004. Its stark images of Jesus' crucifixion and the violence toward him, as well as villainous portrayals of many Jewish people, created a religious furor. Rabbis around the world said the film had the potential to transmit potent negative images, attitudes, stereotypes and caricatures about Jews and Judaism.

'September Dawn' (2006)

Who was offended? Mormons
What was their beef? "September Dawn" is described as a love story set against the backdrop of a 19th century massacre of a wagon train of Utah settlers. Though the massacre is documented, Mormons decry the portrayal of church members as murderers.

'Water' (2005)

Who was offended? Hindus
What was their beef? Shooting on the film, which depicts the plight of Hindu widows, was disrupted when fundamentalists and supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its mentor, the Sangh Parivar, staged raucous protests.

'Submission' (2004)

Who was offended? Muslims
What was their beef? When Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, a descendent of Vincent van Gogh, released the 10-minute film "Submission," with its criticism of violence against women in Islamic society and its images of seminude actresses with passages from the Koran displayed on their bodies, he became the target of death threats. He shrugged them off, but on the morning of Nov. 2, 2004, he was killed in the streets of Amsterdam by Mohammed Bouyeri.

'Hollywood Buddha' (2003)

Who was offended? Buddhists
What was their beef? Director Philippe Caland's comedy about a struggling movie producer who buys a Buddha head and finds it changes his luck so enraged Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka and Thailand that they marched on government buildings, threatening to fast -- even to the point of death -- if the movie wasn't pulled from distribution.

'Bowfinger' (1999)

Who was offended? Scientologists
What was their beef? The Church of Scientology has gained a reputation for being litigious in protecting its reputation. "Bowfinger" screenwriter Steve Martin's riff on the religion, called MindHead in the movie, drew a more muted response. Makers of the movie (starring Martin and Eddie Murphy, pictured) downplayed the connection to Scientology, and Scientologists kept their protests to the pages of local newspapers, criticizing reviewers who drew any comparison to Scientology.

[HT: nmmng]